IICP Education & Training

Overview

The programme will be delivered in block format, with learners attending Friday-Sunday once a month. There will also be additional tutorial days and professional knowledge seminars built into the programme. To complete the P.G. Diploma in Pluralistic Counselling and Psychotherapy, learners will complete seven modules in Year One and one module in Year Two. Two additional modules, along with the research portfolio are completed in Year Two to obtain the M.A. in Pluralistic Counselling and Psychotherapy.

The programme contains ten mandatory modules over the duration of two academic years.

Year One – Module Descriptors
•Advanced Research Methods and Statistics 1: This module is designed to provide the learner with a solid theoretical foundation in Research Methods. Learners will become familiar with reading and critiquing research papers.

•Philosophical Underpinnings in Counselling and Psychotherapy: This module will encourage learners to explore, in depth, the conceptual and philosophical foundations of counselling and psychotherapy. Learners will be encouraged to develop a questioning mind, reflecting on a number of key theories from a philosophical perspective.

•A Pluralistic Framework: This module aims to explore the assumptions underlying a pluralistic approach to therapy. Learners will gain proficiency in this approach and practice it in a coherent and meaningful way. A detailed examination of three therapeutic domains –goals, tasks and methods – will take place. Furthermore, practical skills such as assessment and case formulation will form part of the learning in this class.

•Professional Knowledge: The purpose of the module is to encourage learners to engage in engage in discussion based learning which highlights elements of dialogue, critical discovery and community based scholarly activity to probe specialist areas of psychotherapy theory, research and practice.

•Contemporary Perspectives: This module explores current research findings on contemporary issues and approaches in the field of Counselling and Psychotherapy, including the role of trauma, neuroscience and the therapeutic use of mindfulness. Adhering to a pluralistic stance, the module will offer learners knowledge, skills and competence drawn from a range of novel areas of theory and practice.

•The Sociological Context of Mental Health: This module aims to enable learners to evaluate and reflect on the value of therapeutic interventions within a social context. This module will include the key contemporary debates within the sociology of mental health and mental illness. The sociological study of mental health is unique in that it seeks to document and describe the social conditions that influence psychological functioning, as well as the psychosocial process that link social experiences to psychological health.

•Advanced Research Methods and Statistics 2: This Module is designed to provide the learner with the knowledge, skills and competence to enable them to carry out basic research investigations. Learners will begin the process of applying advanced research skills.

Year Two Module Descriptors

•Practice Based Issues: The aim of this module is to facilitate learners in addressing the real issues that present in pluralistic client work. Upon completion of this module, learners will have begun the process of applying evidence-based strategies to practice-based problems such as poor outcomes, non-attendance, therapy drop-out etc. Leadership skills and management strategies also form part of the curriculum of this module.

•Clinical Practice and Development Module: The module will take place in IICP Education and Training Ltd and will focus on the application of pluralism to clinical work. Case study work and supervision will form an integral part of this module. A number of lecture halls will be made available for this module. Learners will also engage in self-directed and peer-supported learning as part of this module.

•Research Portfolio Module: The Research Portfolio module at IICP takes a different format that the standard dissertation. The ethos of the Master’s programme is evidenced in this module by the inclusion of 4 separate assignments that form the Final Capstone Module. Learners will undertake a literature review paper, a research paper, a reflexive paper and will disseminate their research in presentation format at an internal conference.